Solid phase micro-extraction (SPME) was developed by Janusz Pawliszyn of the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The SPME process and apparatus is disclosed for example in International Patent (PCT) Publication WO 91/15745 of J. Pawliszyn, published Oct. 17, 1991, and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
In the SPME process, a coated or uncoated fiber (filament) housed within a needle of a syringe is brought into contact with components/analytes in a fluid carrier or headspace above the carrier for a sufficient period of time for extraction of the analytes to occur onto the fiber or coated fiber. Subsequently the fiber is removed from the carrier or headspace above the carrier and the analytes desorbed from the fiber generally by thermal desorption into an analytical instrument, such as a gas chromatograph (GC), for detection and quantification of the analytes.